Top 17 Most Common Insects in Yala
Insects, an incredibly diverse group known for their peculiar characteristics and habitats, are significantly influenced by geographical variations within Yala. These tiny creatures, though seemingly negligible, play crucial roles in the ecosystem - from pest control to pollination - showcasing the remarkable symbiosis between Yala's environments and its insect inhabitants. As we delve into our list of '17 most common insects in Yala', we reaffirm that even the smallest life forms have the biggest ecological impacts.
Most Common Insects
1. Common four-ring
Wet-season form: Upperside greyish brown. Forewing with the usual comparatively large, bi-pupilled, yellow-ringed, black preapical ocellus. Hindwing usually with two, sometimes with three, very rarely without any, smaller similar uni-pupilled postdiscal ocelli. Underside greyish white, not very densely covered with transverse short brown striae. Forewing with the preapical ocellus as on the upperside, obscure discal and subterminal dull brown transverse fasciae and a narrow brown ring round the ocellus diffusely produced posteriorly. Hindwing with one apical and typically three postdiscal posterior ocelli placed in a curve; traces of transverse brown discal and subterminal fasciae in most specimens. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen greyish brown, the abdomen paler beneath. Male without secondary sex-mark. Dry-season form: Similar, somewhat paler on both upper and under sides; the discal and subterminal transverse fasciae more pronounced; the ocelli on the underside of the hindwing minute or absent. Adults have a wingspan of 4 - 4.5 cm.
2. Chlorion lobatum
3. Palm king
Male: upperside umber brown. Forewing with the costal margin narrowly fulvous (reddish brown) near apex, crossing towards the termen, forming an obscure preapical band joining a subterminal lunular band of the same colour. Hindwing uniform, with a subterminal band as in the forewing but not lunular, straight. Underside pale brown, with the following transverse pale lilac-white bands crossing both forewing and hindwing: basal, subbasal, discal, postdiscal, broad subterminal and terminal; the subbasal and discal of equal width, meeting above the tornal angle in V-shape, the space between the two bands with, on the forewing, two shorter similar bands crossing the cell, on the hindwing a single similar band from costa to median vein; subterminal band on hindwing bent upwards above tornal area and continued halfway up the dorsal margin, the broadly-produced tornus with a dark brown spot; finally a large ochraceous ocellus in interspace 2, and a smaller similar one in interspace 6. Antennae reddish; head, thorax and abdomen umber brown. Secondary sex-mark a glandular fold in membrane of wing shaded by tufts of long hair along vein 1 on upperside of hindwing, and preapically on the abdomen with tufts of stiff long hairs. Female: Upper and undersides as in the male but paler; on the upperside the fulvous along the costal margin widens into a preapical patch, and generally the bands on the underside show through and appear above as pale fulvous bands.Wingspan: 11 - 12 cm .Eggs: The freshly laid eggs are creamy white with a small black spot in the centre and a black circular ring. The eggs are laid in a row. At Thenmala, the observer saw two rows, the first having 15 eggs and the second 3 eggs. Prior to hatching, the colour of the egg changes to black. Larvae: The first instar larvae are cylindrical, measuring 0.6 - 0.8 mm in length. The second instar larvae are pale greenish yellow measuring 0.8 - 1.2 mm in length. The third instar larvae are morphologically very similar to the previous instar, but are longer ( 3 - 4 cm ) and stouter. The fourth instar larvae are stouter and longer measuring 4.5 - 5 cm . During the fifth instar, the larvae become more brownish than greyish and measure 7 - 8 cm in length. Larvae of the palm king are voracious feeders. Most of the time, they remain on the underside of the leaf, eating from the tip of the leaf working towards the base. With regard to coloration, the fifth instars show marked difference in their ground colour: some being more brownish and some more greyish. Pupa: The process of pupation takes about half a day and resulted in a greenish spindle-shaped pupa, well-camouflaged among the pointed leaves of the host plant. Initially, they are semi-transparent but later they become more opaque. The pupa has veins and lines similar to that of the leaves of the host plant, all veins ending at the pointed lower end of the pupa. The pupa becomes transparent on the eve of hatching, with the wings and head clearly visible.
4. Autumn leaf
The larvae are black, with two rows of dorsal white spots. Head with a pair of branched spines; rest of the segments with a dorsal and a lateral row of blue branched spines on each side. The pupae are yellowish with numerous black spots; constricted in the middle; head produced into two points. Male's and female's underside yellowish brown, paling anteriorly to rich golden yellow on the forewing, shading anteriorly into dusky brown on the hindwing. Forewing: the apical half black, following a line from vein 12 opposite the discocellulars, passing through apex of cell, obliquely across middle of interspace 3 and curving down to tornus; a black spot near apex of cell coalescing with the inner margin of 1he black colour; a short, very oblique, broad golden-yellow band, broader in the female than in the male, from middle of costal margin to interspace 5; a spot beyond in line with it in interspace 4; two, sometimes three, minute, preapical white specks; the cilia fulvous (tawny), touched with white, anteriorly. Hindwing uniform; the costal margin broadly as noted above, a subterminal narrow band and narrower terminal line posteriorly, dusky black; a postdiscal black spot in interspaces 2 and 5 respectively; the cilia fulvous. The ground colour varies from reddish to dark greenish brown with irrorations (speckles) of greyish and black scales; apex of the forewing and the terminal margin posteriorly of the hindwing more or less lilacine; forewings and hindwings crossed by a dark narrow discal fascia, generally bordered on the inner side by a greyish line; this fascia bent inwards at right angles above vein 6 of the forewing and in most specimens, bordered internally by a diffuse pale patch and externally by an oblique whitish mark, beyond which is a subcostal white spot, followed by a transverse sinuous postdiscal series of obscure ocelli crossing both wings, each ocellus centred by a minute dot, white on the fore, black on the hindwing. In the male there are generally, but not invariably, a number of whitish spots on the basal areas of both wings. Antennae blackish brown, ochraceous at apex; head, thorax and abdomen dark fulvous brown; beneath, the palpi white, the thorax and abdomen pale brown. Wingspan is about 8 - 9 cm.
5. Lychas scutilus
6. Thyas honesta
Its wingspan is about 84–104 mm. Head and thorax reddish chestnut in colour, where the third joint of palpi black. Abdomen crimson. Forewings reddish chestnut, slightly irrorated with dark scales. There are traces of a sinuous antemedial line with three specks on it. Reniform greyish, where the lower part more or less completely filled in with black. A curved postmedial series of white specks with an indistinct band beyond it angled at vein 6 and met by a dark streak from the apex. A marginal series of specks present. Hindwings crimson with black sub-marginal medial patch. Larva ophiusine-shaped with an apple-greenish body and finely lined longitudinally with purple-centered double white lines. The dorsolateral pair of conical tubercles are yellowish patched with red. The larvae feed on Careya, Barringtonia and Planchonia species.
7. Coconut skipper
Hidari irava, the coconut skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in southern Myanmar, Thailand, western Malaysia, as well as on Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Sula Islands. The wingspan is 45–55 mm. The larvae feed on Bambusa species and Cocos nucifera.
8. Multi-coloured saint andrew's cross spider
Argiope versicolor is a colorful spider. The female's cephalothorax is covered by silvery hair. Its abdomen is pentagonal in shape with white, yellow, red, dark bands dorsally, and two longitudinal yellow stripes ventrally. The dark bands are dotted with white. The legs are orange with dark bands. She usually sits head down in the centre of the web, with legs held spread-eagle in an 'X' shape reminiscent of St. Andrew's Cross. The male is smaller and duller than the female, and brown and cream coloured.
9. Brown awl
Badamia exclamationis is a butterfly from the family of Badamia exclamationis (Hesperiidae). The scientific name of the species was first validly published in 1775 by Johann Christian Fabricius.
10. Yellow-barred flutterer
The scientific name Rhyothemis phyllis was first validly published in 1776 by Sulzer.
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